After Westfield, Chinese officials get jail sentence

As former Essex cricketer Mervyn Westfield became the first English cricketer to be jailed for corruption on Friday for his role in a spot-fixing scam, 39 people on Saturday were given sentences ranging up to 12 years behind bars as part of China's crackdown on soccer corruption.

Mervyn Westfield

Yang Yimin, former deputy chief of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), was sentenced to 10-and-a-half-years in prison for taking bribes totalling 1.254 million yuan ($199,364). His personal property worth 200,000 yuan was also confiscated.

Zhang Jianqiang, former head of Chinese referees, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking bribes totalling 2.73 million yuan and had personal property worth 250,000 yuan confiscated, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Thirty-seven others, including former president of Shaanxi Guoli Club, former manager of Tibetan Luhua Club, and former president of Qingdao Hailifeng Club were handed out various prison sentences.

Back to cricket. Westfield was given a four-month prison sentence after admitting receiving �6,000 ($9,200) to bowl so that 12 runs would be scored in the first over of a 40-over match between Durham and Essex in September 2009.